If gaming is all about embracing simple, improbable pleasures, then surely there is none greater than shooting zombies repeatedly in the head. A spin-off from the usual series hijinks, Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles delighted Wii owners in 2007 with an on-rails shooting experience that contained, and retold, the greatest moments in the franchise’s history. Criss-crossing between Resident Evil 2, Code Veronica and even preluding aspects of the seminal Resident Evil 4, this winter’s Darkside Chronicles will give itchy-triggered gamers everywhere some much-needed respite.

Despite being a console where third-party publishers titles go to die, the Wii, like the DS, has achieved one unusual power this generation – resurrecting the dead. Just as the DS brought point-and-click adventures to life after nearly a decade in the wilderness, the Wii’s simplicity of design and “Zapper” peripheral have put on-rails shooters titles firmly in vogue once more. From Ghost Squad, Dead Space: Extraction and House of the Dead: Overkill, rabid fans of the guided first-person shooter genre are swapping the confines of the arcade for the comfort of their living room with a minimum of fuss. So one wonders where does Resident Evil: Dark Chronicles stack up amongst such lauded company?

For one thing, Chronicles, like its predecessor, is a different breed within the genre - removed from the arcade-frenzy of Ghost Squad and HotD and the narrative-heavy exploits of Extraction. Players choose one of two characters per chapter who help the player (on-screen this time) through familiar set-ups within the Resident Evil franchise.  For series purists it’s enjoyable to see a slightly augmented retelling of the series’ canon, with certain scenes (such as Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield’s fated first meeting in RE2) deliberately tweaked to fully harness the strengths of the genre. The title is split into three main sections with a multitude of chapters contained within: Operation Javier is a South America-set prelude to events in Resident Evil 4 (and graphically similar to Resident Evil 5) where players play as either Leon Kennedy or Jack Krauser; Memoirs of a Lost City is an action-packed retelling of Resident Evil 2, and finally Game of Oblivion, where Claire Redfield and Steve Burnside star in a tweaked version of the events of Code Veronica. If that all sounds like a mouthful to series newcomers, don’t worry too much about it, you’ll be too busy shooting zombies heads off to worry about story arcs. For purists, there is a huge degree of fan service with cameos of series favourites at every turn.

Gameplay controls couldn’t be simpler, with the Wii Remote’s Z trigger to fire, A button to pick up items and changing weapons through one of the 4 items assigned to each direction on the D-PAD.